Those of us who work and live in hot and humid climates look forward to the cooler temperatures and decreased humidity that the fall and winter seem to provide.
Palm trees don’t welcome the cold temperatures as much when the cold comes more suddenly than at a more gradual pace. Sudden cold, which does not provide time for palms to properly acclimate, can be detrimental to our tropical landscape additions.
If you want your palm trees to stand strong in the sunshine and blue skies, taking care of them all year is important, especially in wintertime as well.
Here are some Winter palm tree care tips from P&L Palms to ensure your palm keeps growing green in your home landscape.
How Does Cold Affect Palm Trees?
Palms can acclimate to the normal temperature fluctuations they experience.
For instance, in the south and southeast U.S., our warm, humid nights are normal. Palm trees become used to our typical temperature fluctuations, and this is referred to as acclimation.
A palm tree’s cold tolerance can differ greatly depending on the region in which it lives. Cold tolerant species of palm trees can withstand subfreezing temperatures with little to no injury.
Colder temperatures can certainly slow down your palm tree’s root activity and growth rate. But when a palm tree encounters temperatures below what they normally experience, it can cause injury. A palm stressed by cold temperatures is very susceptible to rot issues in its crown and main trunk, as well as nutrient deficiencies, while damages resulting from hard freezes can impact all parts of a palm. Frost alone may only impact exposed parts of a palm.
If you experience browning on your palm, do not count it out as being dead. The result may only be cosmetic, and your palm will recover when warmer months return. Patience is key.
How To Protect Palm Trees in Winter
Being proactive is important for winter palm tree care. Fertilizing your palm in March, June, and September of every year is recommended and will coincide with your palms growth cycle as nutrients are needed. P&L Palms stocks our very own special formulated soluble palm fertilizer formulated for our palms here in the Southeast.
Palms can acclimate to regular cool temperature fluctuations in our Southeast region. Here are a few planning tips from P&L Palms that may help ensure minimal damage happens during sudden temperature drops.
Palm Tree Mulching
Proper mulching can help minimize damage to the roots.
Mulching more heavily prior to forecasted hard freezes at a depth of 3 to 4 inches around the trunk and top of root system can help with palm tree winter protection. This helps keep the ground near the palm from freezing deeply, protecting the tree’s roots. Mulch also maintains palm root temperature, further protecting it from cold damage when rapid temperature fluctuations occur.
Palm Tree Watering
Your palm tree’s water uptake can slow down once temperatures fall below 38 degrees Fahrenheit.
Making sure your palm tree is well-watered entering the Winter can maximize water availability to its leaves. You want to adequately saturate the soil but not to the point of waterlogging. You want a moist soil only.
Any time a freeze is imminent, remember to water your palm trees only at or below ground. Overhead watering is not recommended.
Palm Tree Covers & How To Wrap Palm Trees For Winter
With today's technology, frost and freeze warnings will arrive in time for you to take action and be able to provide your palms with Winter protection.
You can carefully cover your shorter palms with a blanket or frost cloth before an expected freeze. Place the blanket over your palm loosely so that warm air rising from the soil stays underneath to keep the palm warmer than the outside air. Make sure to not let the protective fabric rest on top of your palm's foliage.
You may also wrap the trunk and foliage of palms for additional Winter palm tree protection. To do this properly:
Use a synthetic blanket, burlap or landscape fabric.
Wrap the material around the trunk and secure it loosely.
You may also continue to wrap it around the lower leaves while gathering them closer into a bunch. Wrap as high as the leaf stiffness allows.
When it comes to taller palm trees such as our areas Sabal Palm, you may wrap the trunk in a Christmas light setting using any lighting that does not contain LED bulbs. LED bulbs do not create heat therefore are not recommended to ensure heat into the trunk of the Sabal palms.
Remember to remove the sheet and unwrap the fronds or unplug any lighting after the freeze has passed. If failure to do this occurs, you may stress the palm and create a different health issue.
Plant Cold-Hardy Palms
While we at P&L Palms sell many varieties of palms, we believe it is important to install palms that can adapt to our local climate and important for palm tree care in winter. Let our staff of palm professionals help you make the right decision in choosing your perfect palm.
Here are some cold-hardy palm tree varieties that we stock at P&L Palms that can better acclimate to freezing temperatures:
Butia capitata (Pindo palm) - An attractive small palm with a stout trunk and blue-green or gray-green leaves that grows in USDA zones 8 to 11.
Chamaerops humilis (European fan palm) - A bushy, multi-trunk palm that is a medium-size rounded or small tree shape that grows in USDA zones 8 to 11.
Rhapidophyllum hystrix (Needle palm) - A hardy palm, this shrubby, rounded palm has a short, thick trunk and large, dark green leaves that is native to North Carolina and grows in USDA zones 8 to 10.
Sabal minor (Dwarf palmetto) - A common, fan-shaped palm in a small shrub form native to North Carolina that grows in USDA zones 7 to 10.
Sabal palmetto (Cabbage or Sabal palm) - Native to Florida and coastal North and South Carolina and Georgia, this palm has a single trunk and full, rounded canopy. It grows in USDA zones 8 to 11.
Trachycarpus fortune (Windmill palm) - Known as the most cold tolerant palm. This taller palm is cold hardy with a wide crown and grows in USDA zones 8 to 11.
May your Winters be worry free and your palms be as healthy as can be.
Brad Wallace
Owner- P&L Palms
20062 US Hwy 17
Hampstead, NC 28443
(910) 742-8286